The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Seminar Series 2018: New Approaches in Japan and the UK

Wednesday 21st November 2018, 5.30 pm - 6.45.pm

Pavilion Room, 4th Floor, Gateway Building, St. Antony’s College

Japan’s foreign and security policy has remained unchanged under the leadership of Prime Minister Abe, and the Japan-US alliance remains coherent and strong so far. With Donald Trump as President of the United States, however, anything could happen. In the longer term, there is the possibility that President Trump’s America, or anybody else’s America, may be a less reliable ally, and may weaken its treaty obligations to defend Japan, given that US public opinion is increasingly unenthusiastic about international commitments of this kind.

Should that be the case, however, is an exit from the US-Japan Security Treaty, the pillar of Japan’s post-war foreign and security policy, a viable option for Japan? If not, what can Japan do to prevent that from happening? Will there be any other options available? What would be the impact and implications of each of these options for the future of regional and global order? These are the questions that this lecture will try to address from political, constitutional, economic and demographic viewpoints. Two experts from Japan and the UK will discuss how Japan should best maintain its peace and prosperity in this new age.

Naoyuki Agawa is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Doshisha University, Kyoto, where he teaches American constitutional law and history. He has previously served as the Minister for Public Affairs in charge of public diplomacy and press relations at the Embassy of Japan in Washington DC. Naoyuki currently sits on the board of councillors of the Suntory Foundation and the United States-Japan Council. He has often served as an advisor to the government of Japan, including in his current membership of CULCON, a group that advises the Japanese and US governments on matters related to bilateral, cultural and educational exchanges. Naoyuki is the author of numerous books including: Understanding America Today through Its Constitution (2017); A History of Constitutional Amendments and Other Changes in America (2016); American History through the United States Constitution (2004, 2013) (for which he received the Yomiuri-Yoshino Sakuzo Award in 2005); and The Friendship on the Seas: the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, (2001).